Change Of Keys Opens New Door Switch In Careers Leads To National Recognition As Court Reporter

April 16, 1986|By Ramona Whaley, Special to The Sentinel

Frank Sarli was on his way to becoming a professional pianist in the mid- 1950s when he ran out of funds for tuition and became a court reporter instead.

The change brought him from Miami, where he had been studying music at the University of Miami, to Orlando, which became his springboard to national honors for his accomplishments in shorthand reporting.

Sarli, chairman of the board of the National Shorthand Reporters Association's Academy of Professional Reporters, was presented the association's highest honor, a Distinguished Service Award, at the 19,000- member group's 25th annual convention in August in Kansas City, Mo.

He is the first Floridian to receive the award.

He said the presentation was such a surprise that he was almost speechless. ''I couldn't make a sentence,'' he said. ''I wanted to thank people and I looked at people I've known all my life and couldn't think of their names, so I thought I better fold this up and sit down.''

Records show, however, that Sarli managed seven sentences and thanked two of his professional associates.

But that was a short speech for Sarli, who considers himself very talkative -- an occupational trait.

''When you talk to reporters who listen all day, they won't shut up,'' he said with a laugh.

The eight employees of Sarli's company, Accurate Reporters Inc., joined about 100 of his friends and professional associates at a dinner honoring Sarli Feb. 15 in Orlando. The group included many who could not attend the award presentation in Kansas City.

Sarli's company, one of Orange County's first independent court reporting firms, was founded in May 1973. It provides court reporting services for attorneys handling Orange County civil cases, depositions and sworn statements. Reporters employed by the court perform similar tasks in felony criminal cases.

Also at the Orlando dinner were representatives of the approximately 800- member Florida Shorthand Reporters Association, which Sarli and several others founded in 1961. Sarli was the association's president from 1976 to 1977 and edited its newsletter for eight years. He also is a former director of the national association.

Court reporting has been going on ''forever,'' Sarli said. ''I guess it goes as far back as the ancient scribes writing on their tablets.''

Court reporters have an important role in the court system, he said. ''Judges make decisions, attorneys defend clients, and we preserve the records.''

Accurate records of court proceedings are indispensable if the decision of a judge or jury is challenged in an appeal to a higher court.

''That's when you have to have a reporter there, and a transcript, to see if errors were made in the trial,'' he said.

Sarli said he has seen many changes in the profession since he went to work for a free-lance reporting company in 1956. A year later he was appointed deputy court reporter for the Ninth Judicial Circuit in Orange and Osceola counties.

''When I started out, you reported all day, then stayed up all night typing manuscripts,'' he said.

Reporters since then have advanced from taking shorthand notes to using stenotype machines and cassette tapes.

The complex world of court reporting seems far removed from life as a musician, but for Sarli it was only a step away.

Sarli said that when he was studying music he ''had no idea I would end up in this business.''

His interest in music was kindled when he was 6 and his father, a New York steamboat cabinetmaker and part-time clarinetist, brought home a catalog of musical instruments and asked his son which one he wanted to learn to play.

''The accordion caught my eye,'' Sarli said, ''and I studied it and hated it. My father died when I was 10, and when he died that was the end of the accordion.''

When he was 14 he returned to the same music teacher but tried another instrument, the piano. The piano suited him and he decided he wanted to become a professional pianist.

To pay for his musical education, he had several part-time jobs -- including typing for an insurance company. But after 2 1/2 years at the University of Miami, his money ran short.

''I knew I couldn't continue my education,'' he said. ''The tuition was too high. I dropped out of school.''

A friend suggested that because of his typing experience he might want to try court reporting. The idea stuck and Sarli launched his new career by studying court reporting at Walsh School of Business Science in Miami, then moving to Orlando, where there were more job opportunities.

Moving to Orlando, Sarli said, ''was the best move I ever made. I wouldn't want to live in Miami today.''

He said he has no regrets about switching from music to court reporting.

''Unless you are one of the greats, like Horowitz or Rubinstein, you don't make it anyway,'' he said.

''I think somebody was looking after me,'' he said of his career change and move to Central Florida. ''Sometimes you shouldn't fight these things.''

He has not abandoned the piano, however. He continued his studies for seven years under two Winter Park piano teachers and he has given two recitals.

Sarli said he has a baby grand piano in his living room and, with his profession and avocation, ''the best of two worlds.''